Egyptian Headwear

The ancient Egyptians cared very much about their appearance. They wore
finely tailored and flattering clothes and took great care of their
bodies. It is often considered strange then that the wealthiest
Egyptians–both men and women–shaved themselves bald.
Evidence indicates that being clean shaven on the head and face was a sign
of nobility, and copper razors found in the tombs of upper-class Egyptians
reveal the importance of staying clean shaven. Archeologists, scientists
who study the distant past using physical evidence, also believe that
Egyptians shaved to keep themselves cool in the hot Egyptian climate.

Though some Egyptians shaved themselves bald, they still cared about
having a pleasing hairstyle, and so they wore a variety of stylish wigs.
Egyptians were skilled wig makers. They made wigs out of human hair and
bound the wigs to their heads with various headbands and headdresses. By
the time of the New Kingdom (c. 1500–c. 750
B.C.E.
), wigs had become very ornamental and were woven with gold and jewels.
Poorer Egyptians, however, wore wigs made from wool. Male Egyptian rulers
sometimes wore beard wigs during special ceremonies.

Not all Egyptians shaved and wore wigs, however. Hairstyles were used to
show a person's position in society. Young children had their hair
cut short, except for a long strand called a side-lock that hung from the
right side of the head. Married women also had a distinctive hairstyle.
They wore their hair with bangs (hair covering the forehead) and shoulder
length locks at the sides and longer locks in the back. This is called the
triparti style because of the three different lengths of hair. Hairstyles
did change considerably over the long history of ancient Egypt. The
hieroglyphs, drawings that tell stories of the Egyptian past, indicate
that long and short hair was popular for both men and women at different
times. One style that
was popular throughout Egyptian history for both sexes was to have long
hair that was combed behind the ears and then in front of the shoulders,
creating an attractive frame for the face.

In addition to wigs and varying hairstyles, Egyptians wore different types
of hats and headdresses. At the peak of Egyptian society, the ruler,
called a pharaoh, wore the distinctive double crown known as a pschent.
Other forms of headwear were worn for specific ceremonies. Many of the
ceremonial hats were decorated with a figure of the uraeus, a sacred
hooded cobra. Especially during the New Kingdom period, Egyptians used
jewels and elaborate braiding, similar to cornrows, to decorate their
heads.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Batterberry, Michael, and Ariane Batterberry.
Fashion: The Mirror of History.
New York: Greenwich House, 1977.

Contini, Mila.
Fashion: From Ancient Egypt to the Present Day.
Edited by James Laver. New York: Odyssey Press, 1965.

Corson, Richard.
Fashions in Hair: The First Five Thousand Years.
London, England: Peter Owen, 2001.

Cosgrave, Bronwyn.
The Complete History of Costume and Fashion: From Ancient Egypt to the
Present Day.
New York: Checkmark Books, 2000.

Trasko, Mary.
Daring Do's: A History of Extraordinary Hair.
New York: Flammarion, 1994.